WASHINGTON (CNN) – As George W. Bush spends his final days in office, a new national poll suggests that more than two-thirds of Americans see his presidency as a failure.
Sixty-eight percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation say they feel that Bush's eight years in the White House were a failure, with 44 percent saying this was due to his personal shortcomings and 22 percent blaming the failure on circumstances beyond his control.
Less than a third (31 percent) consider Bush's presidency a success.
Half of those polled say that the United States would be better off today had Al Gore been elected president in 2000 rather than Bush, with 27 percent saying the country would be worse off if the then-Vice President Gore had won.
Twenty-two percent say things would be about the same.
"Due to the Florida recount, Bush had the misfortune of coming into office under controversial circumstances," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
"A lot of Americans apparently remember those circumstances, and now wish things had gone a little differently."
Only 3 percent of those questioned say Bush was one of the greatest presidents in the nation's history.
Nearly half (46 percent) rate him a poor president.
"That's three times higher than the number who gave a failing grade to his father or Ronald Reagan when they left office, and it's 27 points higher than Bill Clinton in 2001," said Holland.
Thirty-one percent approve of Bush's performance in the White House - his final approval rating as president.
"The good news for Bush - that 31 percent figure is seven points higher than it was in November, a typical 'nostalgia bump' that most outgoing presidents get," said Holland. "The bad news is that, except for the rating Richard Nixon had when he resigned, that's the lowest approval rating an outgoing president has received in the six decades of scientific public opinion polling."
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted January 12-15, with 1,245 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for some questions and 4.5 percentage points for others.
From CNN Politics
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Sad, only 1 out of 3 Americans are true Americans.
Sorry Tim, 2 out of 3 Americans are true Americans.
Oddly enough, most of the people polled worked at CNN, MSNBC, NBC, New York Times, Time Magazine, etc.
Statistics never lie, but liars use statistics...
"Half of those polled say that the United States would be better off today had Al Gore been elected president in 2000 rather than Bush"
Gore WAS elected in 2000. The US would be better off today if our elections had more integrity.
I find it hard to believe that one in three people haven't figured out that Bush has been the worst president since Hoover. He is leaving with the economy in the toilet, and it has not bottomed out yet. He is also leaving us with two wars, one that never should of started. The Afghanistan war should have been over by now if the emphasis was put on killing Osama BIn Laden instead of invading Iraq. How blind are these people?
He was not only the worst president, he was the most dangerous in the history of our nation. The Bush/Cheney Cartel has virtualy raped our Constitution and plundered the treasury, not to mention sending over four thousand brave men to their death needlessly. The history books will eventually show that our failure to impeach both of them was our ultimate undoing.
Really Tim? Is that what it means to you–to be a true American? I must apologize but you're no "true American."
Hey Tim, when are people like you doing to learn that real patriots stand up and question things when the current administration takes actions that are not in the best interest of it's citizens. Sorry, but blind allegiance to whoever's in power at the time does NOT constitute patriotism.
Most of the nation wishes Bush had never happened. What does that say about Bush? The man was a failure who used fear to stay in power. Lets hope republicans learned their lessons and wont make the same mistake again.
ps. Palin is Bush in heels and a skirt. Dont make the same stupid mistake again.
Bush and clan are a disgrace to the american people and the world and should be impeached then put in prison hard time for life Jim Hall Kansas City Missouri.
While I've gotten beyond hating Bush, its hard to see how he can be rated much than a near-total failure. He has to take responsibility for his policies and decisions, and most regular Americans and historians rate his as one of the worst administrations ever. And Tim, I'm every bit as much a true American as you are.
The amazing thing is that people have no clue just how much he's done for to keep America safe. And, what's worse is they don't care. All they want to do is bash.
Yeh, when our next terrorist attack happens, everyone is going to be looking around for President Bush. President Bush, thanks for keeping m and my family safe!
Thank God the Bush regime is over! And Cheney should be thrown in jail for lying to us. God has answered our prayer in electing Obama. God bless our soon to be president Barack Obama!
If Gore had been elected, we would all be facing East and bowing three times a day. Anybody who thinks Gore would have kept this country safe would probably vote for an obscure, inexperienced, politician who's qualifications only include celebrity status....Oh, wait a minute...
A previous post equates support of President Bush with being a "true American." This kind of thinking is the source of all that has gone wrong with our nation these past few years. Tim, I'm ashamed to call you a fellow American.
Although the figures of the opinion poll shouldn't be discounted it is important to remember the general level of education of the American public. Most people have little knowledge of US history and even less knowledge of world history. We cannot possibly draw a conclusion about the "success" of the Bush presidency for at least 25 years. In the meantime polls such as this one act to reinforce negative opinions and mindless group think.
Fortunately, 2 out of 3 Americans aren't blind patriots. And get used to it, the country is done with neocon politics.
People just repeat what they hear in the media. I am afraid that with the new administration we will be closer to running America with polls than was done with the Clinton administration.
The 1 out of 3 thinking otherwise must need serious mental health treatment. Anyone who thinks in any serious way that the Bush years were not a complete disaster should move to an island somewhere. Never has any person done more to destroy our nation than Georgie who simply couldn't care less about America which was evident by his actions, attitude and arrogance!!!
how could they not see what a horrible shape our country was in, and how could they not have prevented it from happening, i don't and will never understand.
Looking at it from the outside, in this case Denmark, the government under President Bush has indeed caused long term damage to the great nation of USA. The dependence on the ultra right fraction of the American society has led to serious miscalculations, that have allowed the international balance of power to shift to an unreasonable degree. Much regrettably, the international image of Americans has become synonymous with the foreign and financial policy of the government, leaving an impression of arrogance that will take years to change. That said, the USA has been the most important factor in fighting terrorism, and many Americans have made great personal sacrifices during that process. The core of that effort is well respected everywhere, and many countries have much to thank the USA for, but we now look forward to a more global understanding and respect for other values, to bring the world together and hopefully be able to bring back/maintain the USA as the world's leading nation.
Thank you USA.
The bottom line , if he had not gone into Iraq or at the least let the UN inspectors do their jobs he would have gone in with world support . The Iraq war ruined our economy and gave Jihadist the excuse and photo propaganda to use against us. I think he probably was OK as a person but he had bad decision making and a bad team of advisers. The tactic of polarizing Americans into what was basically nationalized Crips and Bloods warfare will hopefully now be replaced with a willingness to come to agreements that can be workable for all AMERICANS
Bush was a total failure, but at least we now have a president with a brain and a plan to help fix what Bush and his useless administration destroyed!!
Now THERE'S a surprise!
I sincerely hope that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the rest of the Republican crooks who did their best to destroy America will be hauled in front of judges to face war crime trials. And for the conservative partisan parrots who blindly support Bush, try looking at your 401's, your home values, your portfolios and your income and try, just try, to tell me that, as a nation, we're better off than we were eight years ago. For those of us not inebriated with the 'media' of Rush, Sean, Bill-O the Clown and Bush's own perverse views, I can safely call Bush the WORST PRESIDENT EVER! Good Riddance!
CNN loves reporting things like this. Very soon, Obama will make Bush look like a hero.
Bush worked on tough issues like Immigration, Social Security refrom, Medicare prescription benefits, National Security, Terror, Education. None of these are easy issues. He worked hard on many unpopular issues. In 2004 when his political capital was high, he took on Social Security which was a bust, which was good because the market crashed and he would have been double screwed if he had won.
His advisors and administration could have used more competence but to see the comments above it is clear that people are clearly not informed or educated about most issues today. People just parrot the media which have turned away from journallism and now is just a form of info-tainment or worse, blatant propagansda.